The Rocket

Roger Clemens is not coming back to Boston.

Please read that sentence carefully. Give it a minute to sink in...

It's a cute fantasy and believe me I would welcome the Rocket back with open arms, as should all Sox fans, but it is not going to happen.

Consider the following as reasons for Roger to return:
1. Eclipse Cy Young as the winningest pitcher in Red Sox history.
2. Rebuild his legacy in Boston.

That's it, there are only 2. Curt Schilling already took care of the biggie in '04. Other than the Hollywood-esque potential for "finishing where he began" there is little else that could compell a man who has accomplished so much to return to a city that until a few weeks ago considered him a bit of a traitor and a malcontent.

On the other hand, consider the following as reasons for Roger not to return:
1. The team will force him to be a regular player, i.e. travel etc.
2. Enormous expectations based on past performance (recent and beyond).
3. He pitched for the Yankees after the Red Sox, if he starts off poorly we will remind him of that.
4. It's much colder here than in Texas, old bodies + cold = stiff and sore.
5. His son is in the Astros organization. He will never see him play in Boston.
6. A murderous division, including frequent trips to the Bronx, where for right now they LOVE him.
7. A blinding spotlight.
8. Almost nothing to gain professionally.
9. The potential for a negative result is much higher than the potential for a positive.
10. The Red Sox probably are not going to be that good.

If he comes back and wins 18 games and has an ERA of under 3.0 he will be a legend unlike almost any other in Boston. He will return to the pedestal with Pedro and Schilling as the greatest and most beloved Red Sox pitchers ever. However, should he fall short of that this town will turn on him in an instant when we remember the way that he scorned us in his departure. He in turn will turn on the town, being a rather large ego maniac, and could potentially bury himself and the locker room in discontent for the remainder of the season. Roger may have mellowed in his old age, but he is by no means a lap dog. He has stayed out of the media eye in Houston largely because they don't care about baseball down there, but in Boston he will be front and center all the time.

That's my view of it from Rocket's standpoint. From the view of a Sox fan however I would absolutely love to see #21 on the mound at Fenway again. (Although I would have to throw away my #21 Yankees Suck shirt.) He along with a healthy Beckett and Schilling would make for the best top of the rotation in baseball. It would also add a tremendous amount of depth to the staff, giving them 7 or 8 potential starters (the 3 I mentioned, Arroyo, Wakefield, Wells, Papelbon, and eventually Lester) that could be used out of the bullpen or traded for a position player who sucks less than Alex Gonzalez. I think most of Red Sox nation would agree that giving Papelbon another year out in the bullpen would be the best course of action, especially since we saw what he could do in the set-up role last year. Not to mention that would be an ideal insurance policy behind Keith Foulke who at this point is a gigantic question mark.

WEEI reported today that a poll said that 70% of Sox fans would approve of bringing Clemens back. Who are these dissenting 30%? He had an 1.8 ERA last season and would have won 20 games if he were not 88th in the league in run support. Granted that was in the NL Central which is by no means the AL East, but an ERA of sub 3.0 and 17 wins would not be out of the question. Do the naysayers think the Sox are going to get that from Wells, Arroyo, or Wakefield? Further proof that Red Sox fans don't think with their brains, they think with an alternative part of the body, hidden away, that only knows how to hate ex-Yankees regardless of their value or lack of loyalty to the pin-stripes (not like Wells who was just dying to be a Yankee again...and was very fat, it's okay to hate him).

*********************************************************************************** Boston.com and NESN are reporting that BC is going to play an outdoor hockey game at Fenway park next season. That is absolutely incredible. As a BC grad I can't imagine anything that would make me go to a non-Beanpot non-Hockey East tournament game more than staging it at Fenway park. If all goes well in terms of liscencing the game will be played this December. An opponent has not been named yet, but there is talk of having a double-header with BU playing someone in the second game. I say forget the double header and have BU and BC play against each other. It's the best rivalry in college hockey and fans (like me) who are marginally apathetic during the regular season would line up to see that game at Fenway. I wonder if I could get a monster seat for that game...

*********************************************************************************** To polish off today's post I thought I'd talk a little bit about unemployment. For me the biggest problem, maybe even equal to the money is the boredom. Some people can sit on their ass all day and be happy with that. I can't. It drives me crazy to have nothing to do all day. There are a lot of waking hours to fill and when you can't afford to leave your house at all and after about a week it starts to get to you. On the plus side I know everything there is to know about the latest in internet pornography and also have plenty of time to spend at the gym. What a loser...